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![Here’s our solar system in a few billion years.](https://boldly-going.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/M27-768x768.png)
Here’s our solar system in a few billion years.
This is M27, the “Dumbbell Nebula,” about 1600 light-years away. It’s what’s called a planetary nebula – not because it has anything to do with planets, but because early observers confused them for planets. In reality it’s far more interesting. This is what’s left over when a medium-sized star runs out of Hydrogen to fuse,…
!["Witch's Broom" / Western Veil Nebula](https://boldly-going.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/WitchBroomRGBStretch-768x507.jpg)
The “Witch’s Broom”
As Halloween draws closer, this seems like an appropriate object to image: the “Witch’s Broom” nebula! Although to be honest, that bright star (Cygnus 56) looks more like an eye on some sort of fantastical, cosmic creature to me. In reality, it’s part of the larger Veil Nebula, which is a huge supernova remnant 1,400…
![2019 Lunar Eclipse](https://boldly-going.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/LunarEclipse011219-NorthUp-768x384.png)
Lunar Eclipse Jan 2019
A progression of photos taken at 15-minute intervals from 10:30 PM to 12:15 AM on the evening of Jan 20-21, 2019. Click to zoom in – there’s a lot of detail!
!["Leo Triplet" of galaxies](https://boldly-going.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/LeoTrioColor-768x519.png)
The “Leo Trio” of galaxies
Three nearby galaxies: M65, M66, and NGC 3628. All three are spiral galaxies, viewed from different angles. You can guess which one is called the “Hamburger Galaxy” đŸ™‚
![Jupiter / Saturn conjunction](https://boldly-going.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/conjunctionproc-768x461.png)
The “Christmas Star?” Not really.
On December 21, 2020, something really special happened in the sky: Jupiter and Saturn had an approach so close that it only happens every 800 years or so. They were so close in the sky that to the unaided eye, they looked like a single, bright star. This led many to proclaim it to be…
![Bubble Nebula](https://boldly-going.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Bubble-proc-768x503.png)
The Bubble Nebula, take… whatever
Every year I try and do a better job of capturing and processing the Bubble Nebula in Cassiopeia. Here’s this year’s attempt. The Bubble Nebula is one of my favorite objects. Not only is it interesting scientifically (the bubble is the stellar wind of a hot O-type star blowing away the surrounding gases,) it’s also…